“Don’t mention it, Sir—­don’t mention it,” said the little man, quite huskily.  “I have only done my duty.”

This courteous sentiment made Richard laugh.  “Your duty to your neighbor, eh?” said he.  “Well, I must now wish you good-by;” and he held out his hand with a frank smile.  “Perhaps we may meet again some day.”

“Perhaps so, Sir,” said the other, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, and accompanying him into the hall.

At the hotel door Richard called a fly, as it was now raining heavily.  “Shall I take you as far as the bank,” said he, “since your road home lies that way? or is even that little service contrary to your motto?”

“I have got to see to my luggage,” answered the other, evasively.

“Well, good-by, then.”

“Good-by.”

The vehicle rattled down a street or two, then stopped before a building of some pretension, with a tall portico and a flight of stone steps before it.  Another fly drove up at the same moment, but it did not attract Richard’s attention, which was concentrated upon the business he had in hand, and made his heart beat very fast.  He pushed his way through the huge swinging door, and found himself in a vast room, with a large circular counter, at which clerks were standing, each behind a little rail.  He had never been inside a bank before, and he looked around him curiously.  On the left was an opaque glass door, with “Manager’s Room” painted on it; on the right was an elevated desk, from which every part of the apartment could be commanded; the clerk who sat there looked down at him for an instant as he entered, but at once resumed his occupation.  Every body was busy with pen and ledger; men were thronging in and out like bees, giving or receiving sheaves of bank-notes, or heaps of gold and silver.  Richard waited until there was a vacant place at the counter, then stepped up with:  “I want to exchange some Bank of England notes, please, for your own notes.”

“Next desk, Sir,” said the man, not even looking up, but pointing with the feather of his quill pen, then scratching away again as though he would have overtaken the lost time.

There was a singing in Richard’s ear as he repeated his request, and fumbled in his breast-pocket for the notes; then a silence seemed to fall upon the place, which a moment before had been so alive and noisy.  Every pen seemed to stop; the ring of the gold, the rustle of paper, ceased; only the tick of the great clock over the centre door was heard.  “Thief, thief! thief, thief!” were the words it said.

“How much is there?” inquired the clerk, taking the bundle of notes from Richard’s hand; and his voice sounded as though it was uttered in an empty room.

“Two thousand pounds,” said Richard.  “Is there any difficulty about it?  If so, I can take them elsewhere.”

But the clerk had got them already, and was beginning to put down the number of each in a great ledger.  Richard had not calculated upon this course of procedure, and had his reasons for objecting to it.